Fortunately, a few clever Mac app developers have come to our rescue and responded to our growing laundry list of features and functions that Apple forgot (or, in the alternative, doesn’t care about, or, thinks they know better anyway).

At the high end of the utility spectrum is an old favorite called Path Finder. That’s what the Finder would be if it had super powers.

It’s also expensive and complicated to use, even though it’s a good Finder replacement.

Closer to the wishes of the average Mac user is TotalFinder, which isn’t really a total Finder replace, and it doesn’t really have everything we want the Finder to have, but it has enough of what we want, and nothing we don’t.

For Mac users, TotalFinder brings back the much missed full length colored labels (replacing the much maligned colored dot in Mavericks and Yosemite). Mavericks and earlier users can get folder sorting (though not as extensive as in OS X Yosemite). There’s also a dual Finder window pane mode that is to die for, and older OS X versions get Chrome-like window tabs.

Many of these are features that show up in OS X Yosemite, and a few in Mavericks, but older Mac OS versions will benefit greatly from the list in TotalFinder. The only real problem I see is the price tag. It’s less than Path Finder, but not nearly as feature laden, and far too many of the most recent functions also show up in OS X Yosemite.

I’d be willing to pay a few bucks for customizable colored app icons in the Finder’s Sidebar, though.

5G? Meh!

About Wil Gomez

I live in Brooklyn, New York and work in Manhattan; a Mac owner for almost 25 years, and an IT specialist on mixed platforms-- Mac, Windows, and Linux. Read more of my articles here. My fiancée is semi-famous Kate MacKenzie. Follow her on PixoBebo.